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Wednesday, 4 March 2015

Montreal Canadiens forward Brandon Prust and his beautiful girlfriend, French language television star Maripier Morin, are about to become reality TV stars. Hockey Wives will premiere onWednesday March 18 at 10 p.m. on the W Network.

Judging from the preview this looks like one “must watch”
series and I was lucky enough to get to talk to Prust and Morin.

Montreal hockey fans all adore Prust , the rugged forward
now in the third of a four yearcontract
he signed for $10 million. The Habs number eight is known for keeping the other
teams honest, always ready to drop his gloves to protect a teammate. He and
Morin actually met when in 2009 in New York. Prust was then playing for the
Rangers. “I was at a bar with my friends and I did not speak English,” Morin
recalls. “I had a little too much to drink, soI did not even remember meeting him. The clue was that I had a new
contact in my phone. I had no idea who he was. Brandon ended up coming to
Montreal and he invited to go with him to a UFCfight card. Well, it was a ‘bloody’ first date and I kind of wondered
‘what kind of guy asks a girl to a UFC fight for their first date?’ But it worked.”

That summer Prust invited Morin to his native London,
Ontario to meet the family. “I was embarrassed because I went with his sister
for a spa day and I could not speak English,” he said. “I wondered what people
were thinking about me.”

“Her English was a lot better than she thinks,” Prust
chirped in.

Morin isa former
figure skater who gas graced the small screen since 2007 on a number of
different shows for TVA and V. She is currently the co-host of Ménage à trois
on V télé. She was a face for Revlon in Quebec, a partner with Prust in the
Montreal restaurant Laurea in Mile-Enda
partner in the Canadian cocktail line UNIK. She actually became close friends
with Tiffany Parros during enforcer George’s briefone season stay here. Tiffany, the mom of
twins, runs her own fashion line, with celebrity clientele including Mariah
Carey, Lindsay Lohan, Amy Smart andDeWulf.

Hockey Wives delivers a rare opportunity for fans to meet
ten sexy, accomplished “captains” off the ice and explores the meaning of being
married to the game.

With an exclusive look into the high-stakes lives of WAGs
(wives and girlfriends) of the NHL®, the series reveals that it takes an
incredible woman to manage fulfilling personal careers and stick handle life
off of the ice with some of today’s top pro athletes. There are incredible
perks to being a hockey wife, but, make no mistake, balancing the pressure of
trades, relentless travel, long periods of separation, injury, retirement and
living for the game takes an extraordinary and self-sufficient woman. Though
they are based in cities all over North America, the wives cross paths
throughout the course of the regular NHL season and are deeply affected by one
another. From wives who are new to the league, to those whose partners are Stanley
Cup winning superstars or entering retirement, these women form a team of their
own, supporting and encourage one another through personal and professional
highs and lows.

Morin and Prust already passed the true test of commitment,
with a two year long distance relationship. Not only was Prust living and
playing in New York City, but during the hockey season he of course travelled a
lot. “I was basically going to New York every other week and doing so by bus,”
Morin explains. “It was only six hours overnight and less expensive than
flying.”

When Prust was a free-agent two years ago he had good offers
from many teams, but his relationship with Morin clearly played a role in his
final decision. “I knew it would be a good place for me to play,” Prust said.
“Obviously it was good for Maripier and her career. It was really a perfect
match for me and I think the Canadiens knew it too.”

So how did the happy couple, who generally enjoy their
privacy residing in the Plateau, end up on reality TV. Morin said it was
Tiffany Parros who recommended her to the producers. It was quite a commitment
as the cameras began recording them in September and only stopped filming in
December. “To be honest, when she first told me about it I did not grasp the
concept,” Prust said. “I thought it would be one weekend.”

“The cameraman they assigned to us was super,” Morin
intervened. “I would basically tell him what we were doing each week and we’d
make a schedule. It was a blast! Once you get into a project like this you just
need to have some trust.”

There is one clip from the preview where Morin asks Prust
why he doesn’t want to marry her. “It is funny what the camera picks up,” Morin
laughs. “We are not engaged or close to being engaged. I am always teasing
Brandon about marriage, but I want to say that I am really comfortable with our
present situation. I think Brandon says that I have not passed all of his tests
yet."

Morin’s English is excellent now. The gal from
Rivière-du-Loupcredits Prust and her
early trips to New York for that. Prust, meanwhile, co-stars with her in a TV
commercial for St. Hubert BBQ in which he orders a poutine. “I am working on my
French,” said Prust. “I can pick up some of the language. Speaking it is still
pretty difficult.”

This time, rather than have it in the immediate vicinity of the downtown campus of Concordia University, it will be held on Friday, March 20 (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) at the Gelber Conference Centre and feature the original intended speaker, Liberal Member of Parliament for Westmount-Ville Marie Marc Garneau. Now that it is slated to occur in the heart of the Jewish community, there is not likely to be any controversy for it moves from the hornet's nest to a scene of calm where these kind of talks happen regularly.

Marc Garneau

The CIJR, which originally agreed to host the CAMERA-sponsored talk, wishes clearly to state that it will not be intimidated by the kind of violent and threatening tactics used on, and off, campus by pro-Palestinian and pro-"BDS" groups. In a statement they said: "Especially after the recent, violent Islamic murders at the Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher sites in Paris, such undemocratic tactics, which threaten fundamental Canadian rights to free speech and free assembly, must not only be opposed but ruled out of order, on- and off-campus. Individuals and groups, Jewish and non-Jewish, have the right to speak out and to assemble. The forces of public order (campus, municipal, provincial and federal) must not only warn of violent 'protest,' but when necessary enforce the ability of those exercising their guaranteed rights to do so in an open and secure manner."